ARE YOU READY TO PLAY?

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 

I Peter 1:13

I marvel at professional athletes who, after a bad performance, say, "We didn't come ready to play and we need to come ready to play every night." I don't really get the being a professional, paid ridiculous amounts of money, but not ready to play concept. But, to be honest, I consider myself a professional at my job, and some days I'm just not sure I ready.  

As Christians, we should try our best to prepare ourselves for the day. That, of course, is why so many people have daily devotions in the morning. Reading the Bible on a daily basis keeps watering our minds and spirits with the truth. 

Notice that Peter says to be self-controlled. I think it is interesting that he doesn't say controlled by the Spirit. Maybe he is trying to emphasize that part of being a Christian where we choose to follow Christ, to act in obedience, no matter how we feel or what the circumstances are around us. 

Finally, we must set our hope on the end of our journey, the grace given us when Jesus Christ is revealed. When we die or Christ comes again (whichever comes first) we will be given grace...We will know him even as we are known. Every tear will be wiped away. We will go home.

That is why we need to be ready to play everyday. 

Father, help us to prepare our minds, be self-controlled, and set our hope fully on the grace we will be given when Jesus Christ is revealed. Praise be to you in us today!

DO YOU KNOW A WANDERER?

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

James 5:19-20 (NIV)

Are you a little lost? 

Are you a bit off track? 

Have the cares of life kind of buffeted you out of your comfort zone? 

Do you just sense that something between you and God is not quite right?

Stop. Remember God's love for you in Christ Jesus. God is full of compassion and mercy. Despite what you are going though remember..."Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him." (Isaiah 30:18) 

Father, thank you for your grace and compassion. Turn me back to you. Praise be to you in us today!

POWERFUL AND EFFECTIVE PRAYER

"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:15-16

I kind of assume that you, like me, want to be that righteous man or woman whose prayer is powerful and effective. That said I am reminded of a few verses. 

I Corinthians 1:30 tells us that we are in Christ and he is our righteousness.  

Ephesians 31:12 encourages us that, "In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." 

Hebrews 10:10 bluntly says, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of body of Jesus Christ once for all." 

Do you get my point? God makes us righteous. If we are righteous in God's eyes, because he paid the price to redeem us, we are righteous. 

The enemy wants to condemn us. God has redeemed us and made us righteous in Christ and from that position we need to pray! From that position we can pray. We pray knowing that God hears our prayers because Jesus made a way for us, he is our Way.

Just pray. Because in Christ God makes it powerful and effective. 

Father, help us to pray knowing we are righteous in Christ and therefore you hear our prayers. Praise be to you in us today!

BRACE YOURSELF FOR GOD

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
 "Who is this that darkens my counsel
     with words without knowledge?
 Brace yourself like a man;
     I will question you,
     and you shall answer me.""
 Job 38:1-3

After everybody speaks, Job, the friends and the young know-it-all, God answers... I wonder if Elihu was taking a breath, getting ready to share a little more of his wisdom and God cut him off? 

What would I do if God just kind of popped in on a discussion about God I was engaged in? I think that is a healthy way to approach some of our conversations about God and his ways. We do have the Bible that speaks to us in truth about God. Even there I worry. 

I don't worry about the Bible being true, I worry about the way we sometimes approach the Word of God. I think the problem with some theologians is they believe they have the wisdom within themselves to judge the validity of the Scriptures. They don't approach the scriptures in humility. It's not just professional theologians who act as if they can, by their own wisdom, canonize Scripture. Sometimes we do. 

The point I am trying to make here is that God, does want us to brace ourselves in Christ, because one day, we will answer him. As you walk with God this week, remember that God has spoken to you through his word, the Bible. His word is true and relevant for you. You may not understand the end from the beginning or why your life is going the way it is, but, you can know God is still God and he reigns whether we discern it or not.

Father, open our eyes to see you in our lives. Thank you that you reign over all, you reign in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!

GOD'S ANSWERS ARE AWESOME AND RIGHTEOUS

You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Psalms 65:5-8 (NIV)

Two things this Psalm makes me think. One, how do I look for God to answer my prayers and two, do I sing songs of joy?

I don't believe I can coerce God into answering my prayers let alone answering them a specific way. But, I maybe I don't see what God is doing sometimes because I am not looking. For example, I always pray that God will bless my family and I often miss that we have never gone a day hungry without a place to live, and we are fairly healthy despite the fact we aren't heath nuts. God is good but I don't always "see" it. 

Sometimes being thankful for the "little" things helps me see the "big" things God is doing or wants to do. Or, it a least allows me to have the faith to wait on him. 

May you be thankful for all God does do and your eyes be opened to what he is doing.

Father, thank you for all you are doing in my life whether I see it or not. Praise be to you in us today! 

DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him with oil in the name of the Lord." James 5:13-14

James is nothing if not to the point. Pray, praise and seek prayer. If things aren't going well seek God in prayer. If things are going well praise God in song. If you are ill ask the leaders to pray for you. 

What do you have to do? If you are like me, a husband and father of four, you may have a bit of everything going on in your life. James' message is in a way to encourage us not to overthink things too much.

If it's time to pray, pray. 

If it's time to praise, praise God.

If it's time to seek prayer, go ask for it.

Father, help us to do what we need to do. Thank you that you will hear our prayers. Thank your for all your grace and mercy to us. Thank you for providing our daily bread. Praise be to you in us today!

AM I PATIENT YET?

Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

James 5:10-11 (NIV)

I don't know about you, but for me, patience in any situation is hard, let alone in the face of suffering. I think it's hard because we can't see the end. All we can see is the here and now. God works from eternity. 

In the book of Job we start out with a view from eternity seeing behind the scenes that Jobs sufferings were not because he was sinful but because he was  a righteous man and the devil was trying to prove that he could make him turn from God if the right amount of suffering was applied. After it all God blessed Job more than before. 

The bottom line is that no matter what we are feeling or experiencing, God is full of compassion and mercy. God longs to be gracious to us and will rise up to show us compassion (see Isaiah 30:18). 

We can't see the end from the beginning, but we know that God does and he is working all things out for the good for those who love him. You are loved by him.

Father, thank you for your love for us. Open our eyes to see you in our lives. Praise be to you in us today!